10 Weekend Things

Truth & Rumours

1 – ONE MORE TIME: The Stanley Cup Final, which many scorned as the worst in years, changed on a dime one week ago and now has become the most riveting Final since the 1940s! Florida won the first three games, Edmonton won the next three, and now the Stanley Cup will be handed out Monday night in Sunrise, FL in the first Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final since 2019. You’ve all heard by now the Oilers are trying to mimic the 1942 Leafs and win it all after going down 0-3 in the series. Meanwhile should the Panthers win, they’ll be the first team since the 1945 Leafs to go up 3-0, then have to rally to win in Game 7. The odds in this one? You’d have to say 50/50.

2 – GULP: You’ve really got to wonder how the Cats will sleep Sunday night. The series which they thought was in the bag is now somewhat out of their hands, and the talk down south is, “Could this be the biggest choke job in American sports history?” Meanwhile a lot of Panthers fans are already calling for coach Paul Maurice’s head in the event of a loss. (Btw it was the Detroit Red Wings who blew a 3-0 series lead in 1942 versus Toronto, but nobody remembers them as chokers). The Panthers will have had two days to reset and are likely happy to have Game 7 at home. All they gotta do is go out and win a game and I believe they will. However home ice means nothing, as the last three Game 7 winners in the Stanley Cup Final were the road team.

Meanwhile the Panthers always have a local celebrity *bang the drum* on the video screen prior to big home games. My suggestion for Game 7 is Randy Moller or The Rock!!!

3 – OIL COUNTRY: I’m rooting for the Panthers, because that’s my home now and want to see what a Stanley Cup would do for South Florida hockey, but I’m not rooting against the Oilers. They’re a fantastic story too, and have earned their scars. And as a goalie guy, you’ve got to love Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner who’s unbeaten in Games 4-7 (10-0) through these playoffs. A win on Monday night would give him 20 playoff wins as an Oiler goalie, putting him in a group with Grant Fuhr, Andy Moog and Bill Ranford. 

4 – JUST NOTES: Game 6 drew 4.2-million viewers on ESPN. Not sure what it drew in Canada on CBC & Sportsnet, and don’t even know where to look to find it. … Game 7 may be the most-watched Stanley Cup Playoff game in cable TV history. …  Panthers winger Vladimir Tarasenko is the only player on either side to appear in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. He was with the Blues when they beat Boston in 2019. .. There are three Albertans on the 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers – Stuart Skinner (Edmonton), Dylan Holloway (Calgary, and son of former Regina Pat Bruce Holloway) and Brett Kulak (Edmonton). … Two Oiler coaches are from Saskatchewan – Kris Knoblauch (Imperial) and Glen Gulutzan (Hudson Bay). … I’ve gotta stop this before I tear up and switch allegiances!

5 – GO CATS GO: The award-winning Cats N Bolts Podcast – Florida’s favourite hockey show – will be in attendance Monday evening at Amerant Bank Arena. … The Panthers have afforded our show privileges that no other Florida podcast enjoys and those tricks are a big reason why we won the award for Fastest Growing Podcast in South Florida. Trust me, we don’t take the Panthers’ help for granted. We’ve built a solid relationship going back three years! (Joel Quenneville was the Panthers coach when I first showed up at FLA Live Arena). … The Florida Panthers are a championship-worthy franchise full of really good guys ‘n gals and it’s been an honour to work with them. Go finish it!

6 – CFL WEEK 3: For another week the Saskatchewan Roughriders will close out play in the CFL. They look to go to 3-0 Sunday afternoon when they welcome the 0-2 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. … Saskatchewan is favoured by 2.5-points at Northstar Bets. … Rider quarterback Trevor Harris is 53-48-2 as a career CFL starter while his counterpart Bo Levi Mitchell is 93-30-2. … Sask coach Corey Mace is the third coach in Rider history to go 2-0 to start his tenure in Green & White. Ken Miller and Corey Chamblin are the others. Are those two in the Plaza of Honour yet? I don’t follow it like I used to. … For a second straight week, I’ve picked the Riders to win.

7 – AROUND THE CFL: The Edmonton Elks and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a combined 0-6 to start the season. It’s surprising for both. Given the 1-year rebuild the Alouettes enjoyed in 2023 under GM Danny Maciocia, you’d have to think time is running out for Chris Jones in Edmonton. Their three losses this season have been by a combined 14 points, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. (Whatever that means). However judging by the Elks’ woeful attendance, perhaps they can’t afford to fire Jones. … As for the Bombers, until they prove they aren’t the Best In The West, I won’t write them off. I’ve been guilty of that the past two years and they’ve shoved it down my throat. But time is ticking. … Also, because of that, and by virtue of their Week 1 home loss to Sask, it’s going to be doubly hard for the Elks to get hot and make the playoffs down the line. … However given the Calgary Stampeders’ penchant for sleepwalking through summer then turning it on in October, I guess anything is possible in the CFL. That’s what makes it so great.

8 – MORE CFL NOTES: The #1 complaint I hear from sports fans across Canada is that they don’t know who the CFL players are anymore. To be honest, I’ve had the same issue. I know how I’d go about fixing that, but I’m not in the league marketing or PR department. … Speaking of, the CFL continues to lose PR battles like fining the kickers this week for justifiably complaining about the microchipped footballs. (Imagine being punished for going public with unfair labour practices at your workplace!). Also, thankfully, fill-in Argonauts QB Cameron Dukes has made everyone forget about the suspended Chad Kelly. Perhaps for good! … If the league has an image problem, the only one responsible for your image is you.

9 – PLAY BALL!: If you’re into it, it’s a Super Sports Sunday in Regina. The Moose Jaw Miller Express of the WCBL visit the Regina Red Sox at 1:05 at Currie Field, intent on snapping Regina’s 10-game winning streak! … So many people have asked how I enjoy broadcasting Miller games and the answer is, it’s been one of the great thrills of my career. It hasn’t been too difficult since the rules of the game haven’t changed hardly at all since I was a kid playing the game, and it’s just pure sport; not ruined by video replay like the pros. It’s a relaxed schedule as I only call home games on Home Team Live, and I’m truly enjoying getting to know the players and their families like the Pokorneys from Margate, FL and the vast Mensik clan from Nebraska. Baseball play-by-play is an art which I’m enjoying getting a grasp of, and it’s another tool in the toolbox. I could go on and on about this but will end it there! The offer’s been made by the WCBL to come back every summer but you know me — One Day At A Time. Go Millers!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Sounds like a wild one in the CEBL Saturday night! The Winnipeg Sea Bears (5-5) fought their way back from down 27 points to pull out a 103-101 win over the Saskatchewan Rattlers (5-5). The Rattlers host the Niagar River Lions next Saturday night at SaskTel Centre. … What are they gonna say about the Bettman Curse if the Oilers win Monday night? … “They hate it when you’re wrong. They hate it even more when you’re right.” — Geoff Currier. … Before it was an Addiction crisis, it was a Mental Health crisis. Now we have both. … I never got my free jacket from my subscription to Sports Illustrated. I know I’ve mentioned that before, but it still pisses me off. … Paul Bissonette is the most influential figure in NHL media today. Meanwhile his colleague Pat McAfee actually won that honour in the NFL the past two seasons running. What’s the lesson in there folks? … Overheard: “The Leafs are my regular season team. The Oilers are my playoff team.” … Florida hockey media asked for restaurant suggestions in Edmonton and I suggested Boston Pizza, only to get trounced by Canadian followers for that suggestion. WTF? … BC Lions owner Amar Doman is laying out the template for other CFL owners and presidents to follow. And having movie star Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers, Hall Pass) in attendance at the home-opener doesn’t hurt. The celebrity cache at sporting events is a real thing. … A Pennsylvania man with a brain tumor was able to die knowing his wife would be taken care of by lottery winnings. Two weeks before Karen Coffman’s husband died, she won $1 million with a scratch-off lottery ticket. The 61-year-old believes there was spiritual intervention that brought about her win. She says she plans to use some winnings to treat relatives to a Disney trip and eventually move to Florida. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen